Newsletter

Connect With Us

Follow Us On Facebook:

New Device Lets You Use Your Phone Off-Grid With 10-Mile Range

 Beartooth allows you to talk & text with other riders without a cell connection.

Published on 02.13.2017

You probably already carry a phone when you ride. So do your riding buddies. If only there was a way you could use its functionality to communicate with one another even when you are off the grid riding in remote areas…

Beartooth is a small, portable device that you can slip in a pocket or tank bag. It pairs to your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection and connects to other Beartooth users via radio signals, allowing you to communicate without cell service. Your phone becomes a push-to-talk device, kind of like a walkie talkie. You can communicate via voice with a group, send texts and check your location on offline maps. The Beartooth has a range of up to 5 miles for voice and 10 miles for text messages, and can also be used to charge your phone.

Beartooth works with your phone to communicate when you are off the grid. Push-to-talk allows for voice communication between you and your group up to 5 miles, while text and location sharing provides even longer range at up to 10 miles.

ADVERTISEMENT

The manufacturer touts the device as a way to stay connected while hiking, skiing or other outdoor activities that take you beyond the limits of cell coverage, or as a way to stay connected when cell networks are crowded.

Because Beartooth turns your phone into something similar to a walkie talkie, you still need your hands to operate your phone, even if you use a headset to feed audio from your phone into your helmet. So you will likely need to stop to send a message or initiate a conversation. However, Beartooth works on 900 MHz ISM band radio frequency that gives it a much longer range than the typical 1-mile range of Bluetooth headsets.

Multiple hops extend your range as you create an advanced on-the-go mesh network to stay in touch with all members of your group.

The Beartooth could offer a great way for a group of riders to stay in touch in case of emergencies. If you are stopped waiting for another rider in your group to show up, you could send a message out asking for a status update and check their location on the included offline maps. The missing rider could send their status via text message so that the other riders would know exactly what’s going on and quickly respond if help is needed.

As a way of putting your cell phone to work when there’s no service, the Beartooth has a lot of potential for adventure and dual sport riders. Price is set at $179 per pair for a limited time (a 50% discount for early orders) and there are no contracts or monthly fees. For more information go to beartooth.com

Bob has been riding motorcycles since age 19 and working as a journalist since he was 24, which was a long time ago, let’s put it that way. He quit for the better part of a decade to raise a family, then rediscovered adventure, dual sport and enduro riding in the early 2000s. He lives in Arkansas, America’s best-kept secret when it comes to riding destinations, and travels far and wide in search of dirt roads and trails.

a good ham radio portable works better. transmits farther. even can make a phone call if needed.
sad you need the governments permi$$ion to do what should be free.
but at least easy to get. radios can be very low cost and come with lots of usable features. just no games on them
.but you can play a game called “the hare & and the hound”.